The Fire Swamp
by C. E. Mott
Summary: Tim and Tony take an unplanned excursion into the sewage system of NCIS. As usual, trouble follows. SeSa for Channel D.
1. Chapter 1

_Plip, plip, plunk._

Tim cringed as another drop fell on his neck and slid under his shirt collar. Shining his flashlight around the tunnel in an attempt to find some definition in the darkness, he began to wonder if it was really necessary to follow the mysterious path that appeared to be a sewage pipe. Thinking back, yes, this was definitely necessary. The face had come down here.

Three nights ago, he had been decorating the tiny tree he managed to fit in his apartment every year when he had looked up and seen a face in his window. He caught only a glimpse before the face faded back into the black of snow in the night. He had tried to dismiss it, tried to let it go as a figment of his imagination, but it just kept eating at him.

Then he had seen the face again, staring right at him as he was about to get into the elevator. Immediately, he had given chase. Tim didn't even remember how they had gotten to this pipe but this was where he had lost the face.

"GAAAAAAAAHHH!" Tim was snapped out of his memories by Tony's yelp.

"What?" Tim rounded on his partner, annoyed. It was bad enough that he wasn't sure they could find their way out; he didn't need Tony jumping at everything. Tony looked at him with a grimace.

"A _rat_ just ran across my foot. It was huge. Like something out of _The Princess Bride. _That makes me Cary Elwes and you Robin Wright. Great movie. Do you think Ziva could be Mandy—? "

"TONY." Tim cut him off. Tony scowled.

"Well excuse me, McButtercup. Is there even anything down here?" Tim sighed.

"Yes, Tony, there is. I told—."

"Yes, I know, you saw a man in your window and now you've seen him again. Can we hurry up and get out of here?"

"I would love nothing more." Tim agreed and the pair continued edging their way along the pipe. After a few moments of silence, Tim once again became irritated at the sound of Tony whistling. "Tony, could you please cut it out? I would really prefer quiet right now."

"Are you sure? I find whistling can really cheer you up especially when you're hallucinating."

"Tony, please."

"Alright." The whistling stopped. Tim didn't get much relief though, for within a few seconds it began again. Tim turned around and glared at his partner. Tony held his hands up in defense.

"Probie, that' not me."

"Come on, Tony, you were just—."

"I'm serious, that's not me." The whistling picked up again before Tony finished his words. Both men looked around for the source of the sound. Turning back to Tony, Tim shrugged only to see Tony's eyes widen with alarm. "MCGEE, GET DOWN!" He shouted. Tim turned around to see a small red dot flitting across his chest.

The thunderous crack of the bullet shook through the tunnel and Tim slammed into the floor. The impact pushed all the air from his lungs and he heard the bullet ricocheting through the pipe. Then he could feel Tony dragging him across the ground.

"Come on, McGee, use your legs!" Tony hissed as he pulled Tim through the slime. Catching his breath, Tim scrambled to his feet and the two pressed themselves up against the wall of the tunnel. "Where did that—?"

Another bullet whizzed past, narrowly missing Tony's head. Tony quickly pulled out his gun and began firing in the general direction of the shot. Tim followed suit. A bullet bounced between their feet, splashing them with the mucky waters of the pipe. Crouching against the walls, Tony and Tim darted forward along the tunnel. Shots began to fly by, zooming past them with less and less time in between.

A bullet whistled by, nicking Tim in the calf, and he gritted his teeth against the pain. They were close. Taking a quick sweep with his flashlight, Tim spotted a branch off only a few feet away. Tony rushed forward, swinging his gun around the corner, with Tim on his heels.

"Drop your weapon!" There was no reply. They faced an unmanned sniper rifle bolted to the wall, wires running between. Dumbfounded, they slowly lowered their guns. Tim turned toward Tony, opening his mouth to speak but his words were cut short by a sudden, blinding light from behind. Whipping around, Tim found himself staring down the dark barrel of a handgun. The face smirked.

"Boo."


	2. Chapter 2

"Put your weapons on the ground, we'll leave those here. Come on now, move along." Tim and Tony slowly placed their Sig Sauers on the floor. "Alright," the man jabbed his gun at Tim. "Let's get going." He pointed down the offshoot. Tim and Tony exchanged quick glances of alarm as they turned before heading down the tunnel.

They walked in near silence, the only sounds the echo of their footsteps and the continued whistling of the man. The further they got down the tunnel, the more wires they saw running along the walls. They traced patterns around the tunnel, vaguely resembling a group of blood vessels. After several minutes, they finally came to a round, steel door at the end of the tunnel.

"Both of you, over to the side." The man jerked his gun towards the wall. Tim and Tony complied, facing away as he punched in the code for the door. "Alright, come on."

The man ushered them through the door into a small, dim, concrete room almost entirely filled with computers whose screens winked and blinked with bright blue eyes. "Over here."

He pointed them towards a few chairs in the corner of the room. "Put them back to back." He waited as they obliged.

"Come over here and turn around with your hands behind your backs." The man quickly bound Tony's and Tim's wrists with duct tape. "Sit down with your arms around the back of the chair."

Tony and Tim reluctantly sank into their seats. The man took the roll of duct tape and began to tie them down. He bound their ankles, then strapped a piece around both of their chests, winding it around several times.

Tim now had an opportunity to study the man's appearance. It was definitely the same man he had seen in his window—dark, sunken eyes, sharp, angular features, pale skin, slicked back brown hair.

"Adler?" A petite, blonde woman with pixie-like features emerged from amidst the computers. She stopped short, staring at Tim and Tony with light blue eyes. "Oh. You brought them early."

"They followed me." Adler glared at them. "Get me a bandage, Tara, this one got himself shot." Adler turned away as Tara scampered off. Tony jerked his head around, trying to see Tim.

"Shot?" He whispered. "You got shot?"

"It barely hit me." Tim replied.

"Where'd you get hit?"

"My leg. It's fine, Tony." Tony was about to argue, but thought better of it and turned back around when he saw Tara approaching.

"Here you go." She handed several bandages to Adler, who stooped down to look at Tim's leg. Pulling up the leg of Tim's pants, Adler examined the wound for a moment before slapping a couple bandages over it. "How is it?" Tara leaned over to try and get a look.

"He'll be fine." Adler replied. "Let's get back to work." Tara disappeared into the jungle of wires and Adler sat down at the desk supporting several screens.

"How bad is your leg?" Tony whispered.

"It just grazed me. I can barely feel it." Tim replied. In truth it stung quite a bit, but he wasn't about to admit that to Tony. "We need to get out of here."

"Ya think?" Tony's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I can't get to my knife. Where's yours?"

"My back pocket. Tony, I need you to get it. I can't reach through the slats." Tony made a face.

"Why'd you have to put it back there?" Tim sighed in exasperation.

"I don't know. Could you just get it?" Tony grumbled, then shifted in the chair to try and reach Tim's pocket.

"I cannot believe I'm grabbing your butt." Tim rolled his eyes.

"You're not. Just get the knife."

"Got it." Tony spoke after a few moments of fumbling around.

"Finally. Hand it to me so I can cut through the tape."

"Can't. He's coming back." Tony slipped the knife into his sleeve as Adler came over, grinning.

"We need to get into the NCIS mainframe. You both have access codes. Who wants to volunteer?" Silence. Tony and Tim stared with blank eyes and blank faces. Adler's lips slowly fell into a frown. "Don't jump all over each other. I only need one."

Quiet unyielding. Adler's brows furrowed. Burying his hand in his pocket, he pulled out a knife and flicked open the blade. Freeze, a palpably tense air. Kneeling down, Adler pressed the cold blade to Tony's neck. Tony tilted his head up, away, and Tim strained to see.

"Agent McGee," Adler called, not taking his eyes from Tony's face. "What price are you willing to pay in exchange for not having your partner's throat slit?" Hesitation. "You don't think I'm serious, do you? No matter, I can prove it." With a flick of his wrist, Adler plunged the knife into Tony's shoulder. Tony gave a cry of pain and surprise, flinching back to hit Tim. Adler twisted the knife around, two inches of sharp metal tearing through Tony's flesh. Tony clenched his teeth against the hisses of pain. Tim tried to twist around to see but couldn't turn far enough. All he could do was sit still as warm, sticky blood dripped from Tony's arm onto his. "I'm an impatient man, agent McGee."

"Okay! I'll give you the code." Adler smiled.

"Good." He wrenched the knife from Tony's shoulder, eliciting a groan. Then he turned to Tim, twirling the knife in his fingers. "Access code." Tim reluctantly told him the code and Adler went to the computer.

"You shouldn't have done that." Tony muttered after several minutes.

"He had a knife in your shoulder Tony."

"I could have taken it." Tim sighed.

"We need to get out of here."

"Just a second and I'll have us loose." Tony shook the knife out of his sleeve and began to cut, wincing as pain shot up his arm.

"Give it to me, I'll do it." Tim took the knife from Tony's hands and began to cut through the tape. He worked in silence for a few moments, nothing but the hum of computers to fill the room. "Are you alright Tony?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." They spoke in whispers.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, Probie, I'm not going to bleed out on you."

"Can you move your arm?"

"Yeah. Sort of. Hurts like hell, though." Tim finished cutting through the bonds around his wrists. He ripped the duct tape off and tossed it to the ground. Taking Tony's wrists, he began to cut through the tape.

"This may take a while."

"We've got a while, McGee."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm so sorry this is so late. The file got trapped on another computer :(. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the final installment.**

An hour later, Tim had cut through the tape around their chests and his ankles.

"Tony, you're going to have to cut your own ankles. Your arm—."

"Is fine." Tony interrupted. "My arm will be fine. Hand me the knife." Tim carefully put the knife in Tony's hand. After a few moments of Tony trying to discreetly cut the tape around his ankles, Tim broke the silence.

"Tony, we need to move."

"I know that, McGee, I'm working as fast as I can."

"No, I mean we need to shift a bit so I can see the computer screen."

"How do you suggest we do that?"

"You go up on your toes and I'll carry the chairs." Tony sighed in resignation.

"Fine. On the count of three. One…two…three." Tony grunted as Tim stood up, hauling the linked chairs with him.

"We need to make sure they stay back to back. If they come apart, Adler—."

"Will notice we've cut through, yeah, I know. Let's move." Tony and Tim slowly tiptoed around until Tim could see the screen.

"That's good, we can stop." They carefully set the chairs back down and Tony continued to cut away at the tape.

"What do you see?" Tim squinted at the screen.

"It looks like…it looks like a list of expenditures."

"Expenditures?"

"Yes, for all the different departments."

"What is he doing with that?"

"I'm not sure." Tony finished cutting through one ankle and turned to the next. He had almost finished with that one when Tim spoke again. "Tony, I think he's moving the money around. I think he's siphoning money off."

"That's not good."

"No, it isn't. Are you done yet?" The last bit of tape snapped before the knife.

"Yep. Let's get out of here." Tim surveyed the room.

"They seem distracted. Should we make a break for it?"

"Let's go." Tony and Tim quickly pulled the tape off as quietly as they could manage. Scanning the room, they crouched down by the wall and began to slink towards the end of the room. Just before they reached the door, Adler turned around and spotted them.

Tim darted his hand out to grab the handle. _Bang, _a bullet ricocheted off. Tim quickly pulled his hand back. He and Tony threw themselves to the side as another bullet smashed between them.

"Tara!" Adler shouted, calling the girl out from the wires. "Take care of him," Adler pointed to Tony. "I've got the other." Tony pulled Tim's knife out of his pocket and struggled to his feet as Adler came over, gun in hand. Tim jumped up and watched Tara approach. She seemed so small and harmless as she walked up to him, her blonde braid swinging behind her.

"Just let us go. I don't want to hurt you." Tara smiled.

"Is that so?" Suddenly Tim's head was snapping sideways as she kicked him across the face. Harmless, she apparently was not. Looking back at her, he was met with a kick to the stomach. Tim grunted as her foot made contact, pushing him back and causing him to double over. Getting up, Tim dodged a punch and tackled her to the ground. With her pinned down, Tim looked over to see Tony scooting along the floor, slashing desperately at Adler as he advanced. Tim could only watch in dread, afraid to distract Tony with conversation, as Tony backed into a corner.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Tara wriggled out from under Tim and hit him across the face. Flipping him onto his back, she pressed her foot down on his neck and laughed as he desperately clawed, trying to restore his airflow.

_Ping_, the sound of a bullet from somewhere outside the room called everyone's attention. The door busted inward and two people burst through.

"Federal agents, drop your weapons!" Gibbs shouted, pointing his gun at Adler while Ziva aimed for Tara.

"Boss," Tony spoke weakly, allowing a smile of relief to adorn his face. "Great timing."

"Get off him, or I will put a bullet in your leg." Ziva threatened. Raising her hands, Tara stepped off Tim. Ziva grabbed her wrists and cuffed her while Tim gasped and slowly stood up.

"How'd you find us?" Tim inquired as Gibbs shoved Adler towards the door.

"When you did not return to your desks, we began to worry. We found the open manhole and followed the path." Ziva answered.

"And you managed to find this room?"

"Abby was sitting at your desk and noticed your access code was used. She traced the source to here and directed us."

"How's your arm?" Gibbs asked Tony.

"It'll be alright, Boss. I don't need a sling or anything. Bandages would be nice though."

"What happened while you were down here?" Ziva inquired.

"Well," Tony launched into a blow-by-blow account of their short-lived captivity. The team moved through the door into the sewer tunnels. Tim winced as he put weight on his leg. Ziva stared at him suspiciously before looking him up and down.

"McGee, what happened to your leg?" Ziva pointed to the blood trickling down his calf.

"Oh, I, um, got grazed by a bullet."

"Get Ducky to look at that when we get back." Gibbs ordered.

"Let me help you." Ziva put Tim's arm around her shoulders, taking the weight off his injured leg. Relieved, they continued towards the door and Tony resumed his tale. They had almost reached the end of the tunnel when Tim interrupted.

"Hey Tony?"

"Yeah, McGee?"

"Can I have my knife back?" Tony placed it in his hand and offered Tim a wide grin.

"As you wish."


End file.
